What’s that, Sega? Shining Resonance Refrain, the first Shining series title in ten years, is on the way? Don’t mind if we do.

For some time now, the word on the gaming grapevine was that Sega are working on rebooting one of their much-loved franchises from back in the day. With a backlog as wide and varied as Sega’s, the possibilities were endless for this. From arcade classics like Hang-On and After Burner to puzzling oddity ChuChu Rocket! and House of the Dead, there isn’t much that Sega haven’t done in their long tenure in the gaming industry.

This time last month, the acclaimed publisher and developer revealed exactly what they had in store, a spiritual successor to Theme Hospital. It came a little out of left field, and so did this fresh new announcement.

A lot of Western gamers may not be very familiar with the Shining franchise. It has its roots in Shining In The Darkness, the original, which hit the Genesis/Mega Drive in 1991. This was one of the company’s (and the system’s) first forays into the RPG genre, following one of the most beautifully cliched genre plots of all time (an evil sorcerer has kidnapped the princess of the kingdom, you must defeat him and rescue her).

Shining In The Darkness was more of a dungeon crawler, but it came fully equipped with the turn-based battles that are the hallmark of the RPGS of the era. Other series entries, such as 2002’s Shining Soul, have differed a little, taking an action RPG route.

The last true entry in the franchise, Shining Resonance, was released for the PS3 in 2014, exclusively in Japan. Its battles were action-oriented, in the Tales vein, and that’s exactly what we’ll get to enjoy when this new enhanced version arrives later this year.

This is nothing unusual for the series. After all, Blade Arcus From Shining, a crossover 2D fighter featuring brawlers from Shining Blade and Shining Hearts, received an EX remake in 2015. Shining Resonance Refrain is going to be right at home on release this Summer, and should be welcomed by all fans of RPGs.

Generally, in the West, Sega’s other RPG venture, Phantasy Star, is better known. This is the perfect opportunity for players to hop on board and see what they’ve been missing out on. I guess now that Sega have made Genesis and Dreamcast games available on mobile platforms, they’re embracing their nostalgic side to the fullest lately.